IGY+50, The IPY, and The electronic Geophysical Year ( e GY)

1. IGY+50, The IPY, and The electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) D.N. Baker Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics University of Colorado, Boulder C. Barton Geosciences Australia Kingston, ACT 2604 Australia V. Papitashvili National Science Foundation Washington, D.C.

2. International Geophysical Year1957 - 1958 • IGY Objectives: • Allowed scientists from different countries to participate in global observations of geophysical phenomena using common instruments and data processing schemes • Gathered data on various geophysical phenomena from around the World • Established the World Data Center System Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

3. IGY + 50Planning for New International Programs International Polar Year 2007 – 2008: IPY is sponsored by ICSU and WMO, and it will expand understanding of the key roles of the polar regions in the globally-linked environment International Year of Planet Earth: The International Union of Geosciences is leading the planning for the Planet Earth Program. Sponsored by the UN and UNESCO, this program will be interpreting the Earth’s history as a basis for forecasting likely future events International Heliophysical Year 2007: IHY will be sponsored by ICSU, with the goal of fostering international cooperation in the study of heliophysical phenomena now and in the future Electronic Geophysical Year 2007 – 2008: Sponsored by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics and endorsed by ICSU, the eGY is to promote a revolution in geoscientific data availability and access worldwide. This coordinated international initiative will make full use of the capabilities offered by modern information management and digital communications. Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

4. eGY Objectives • Embrace and extend the IGY principles of data sharing and scientific involvement • Make existing and newly accrued datasets available – “free access to all” • Digitize or convert to digital images analog geoscience records making data available electronically • Develop a World Wide System of Virtual Geoscience and Geospace Observatories Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

5. eGY Characteristics • Timeliness: Virtual Observatories middleware is becoming widely available • Interdisciplinary: Data sharing and data accessibility are common issues in all fields of geosciences • Affordable: Simple networking technology • Cost Effective: More/better science for money • Inclusive: Opportunities for developed and developing countries • Capacity Building: Provides relevant research experience for young scientists • Complementary to IPY, IHY, IYPE, and other international initiatives like CAWSES, ILWS, etc. Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

6. To get scientific data from various, mostly distributed sources, a scientist may have to: • Process collected data using mostly proprietary codes, run models… • and… • Search through a number of data centers, various institutions, observatories, contact colleagues.. • Finally, do some science… • Get data via snail-mail, air-mail, e-mail, Web… Increasing Requirements Geospace and Earth Systems Science Higher Resolution in Space and Time Assimilation into Models • Then ingest retrieved data into a local database… Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

7. Current Forms of Sharing Geoscience Data • Centralized distribution schemes – World Data Centers (WDC): • Require continuous support for the data acquisition, storage, and distribution • Submission of data remains voluntary • Collected data are often not suitable for submission; e.g., the WDCs only accept absolute geomagnetic measurements “Push Data” Concept Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

8. Sharing Distributed Geoscience Data • Publishing and sharing data through World Wide Web: • Allows one to avoid additional steps in data preparation for submission to WDC • Achieves greater visibility amongst scientific and user communities • A GRID (“Fabric”) of many interconnected data nodes is a new vision of distributed, self-populating data repositories and centers • World Data Centers become an integral part of the worldwide data “fabric”, serving as “clearing houses” for the permanent data preservation “Pull Data” Concept Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

9. Virtual Observatory Components Distributed databases accessed through the World Wide Web portals (GRID nodes): Data Visualization Format Conversion Data Acquisition Location Discovery A base concept for the electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) initiative - IUGG/IAGA, ICSU/WDC Panel Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

10. Near Real Time Data GOES POES Gateway to distributed data Long Term Archival Data VRBO - Architecture Unleashed Data system that meets engineering, operational, and scientific needs for: • Climatology model for designing satellites • Nowcasts/forecasts that provide situational awareness for satellite operators. • Long term archives of simulated and observed data for testing scientific theory User Interface and Displays Nowcast/ Forecast Models CISM End-to-End Models Assimilation of Extreme-Event Data Climatology Models Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

11. Distributed fossil fuel aerosols from nighttime lights Dust from MODIS Fires and smoke plumes A Concept of Carbon Cycle Virtual Observatory Authoritative descriptions of radiative forcing by aerosols for climate studies requires disparate data sets to drive numerical models Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

12. eGY Working Group on Virtual Observatories • WG Mission: • Stimulate, facilitate, and promote the establishment of Virtual Observatories in Geosciences • Promote the sharing of VxO “know-how” and standards • Inform the science community, decision-makers, students, and the public about available VxO • WG Activities: • Run specialist VxO meetings • Organize VxO sessions/talks/posters at other meetings • Use http://www.egy.org as a portal for VxO • Run a VxO section of the eGY Newsletter • Publish articles and press releases on VxO • Run outreach & education programs: produce education resources, CD-ROMs, etc. Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004

13. Summary • During and after IGY about 50 permanent observatories were set up in the Arctic and Antarctic, and the World Data Center System was established • The eGY is an “umbrella” initiative which envisions substantial deployment of Virtual Geoscience Observatories in cyberspace • eGY five major themes: • data access • data release • data preservation • science discovery • capacity building and outreach • Are YOU interested in eGY? Visit http://www.egy.org Fall AGU Meeting San Francisco, 13-17 December 2004